Barca escape with advantage
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte rued one costly mistake as Lionel Messi gave Barcelona the upper hand from the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie by salvaging a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.
Messi struck for the first time in nine games against Chelsea 15 minutes from the end, as Andres Iniesta punished the English champions once more when he intercepted Andreas Christensen's slack pass across his own box to tee up the five-time World Player of the Year.
Willian's fine strike just after the hour mark had put Chelsea in command after he had hit both posts in the first half and the Blues must now score when they travel to the Camp Nou on March 14 to have any chance of making the last eight.
"Against this opponent, this type of player like Messi, [Luis] Suarez, Iniesta, if you make a mistake you pay," said Conte. "There is a bit of disappointment. But at the same time this game must give us a lot of confidence to trust that in the second leg the qualification is open."
"We must be realistic. We are talking about Barcelona. They show tonight to be a strong, fantastic team," added Conte. "We have showed that if we are ready to work very hard together defensively, but continue to have the right feeling when you win the ball when you have the chance to score, we can try to do something incredible at the Nou Camp."
Barcelona enjoyed nearly 70 per cent of the possession, but lacked the penetration to open up Chelsea's well-organised defence.
"At times it seemed like a handball match, because they sat back and waited," said Barca midfielder Ivan Rakitic. "It is difficult when they have eight players behind the ball."
However, Conte defended his tactics, saying it would be "crazy" to approach facing Barcelona any other way.
"When you play against Barcelona you know very well that if you want to face them box-to-box then you are crazy and you go to lose the game, not 1-0, [but] 4, 5, 6-0," said Conte. "You must play with intelligence, especially if you know that [Barca] level is up on us. You must play an intelligent game, we are not stupid."
However, despite the assortment of starts, it was Willian who shone brightest on the night. The Brazilian sent Barca two huge warnings before the break of his threat from range as he beat Marc-Andre ter Stegen to his right and then his left, only to see both efforts come back off the post.
He finally broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute, arrowing a low shot past the Barcelona goalkeeper following a short corner. And the Brazilian saw enough in Chelsea's performance at Stamford Bridge to suggest they can upset the odds in the second leg.
"In a difficult game we played very well," he told the club's website. "We could have won this game. But we did not and the result is still open, we have to go there and try to win. To play in the Nou Camp is totally different and we have go there with the same mentality and try to win the game."